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STILL defending the rich? Even some of the rich aren't defending themselves.


SubwayGuy

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Yup even some of the rich get it.

 

Time to a) tax them and ;) start to get some of the money out of politics to hold these people accountable.

 

Make them go hat in hand to the American PEOPLE, no more lavish campaign dinners...

 

I like it...

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html

 

Op-Ed Contributor

Stop Coddling the Super-Rich

By WARREN E. BUFFETT

Published: August 14, 2011

 

OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.

 

While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.

 

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

 

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent...

 

Read more...

 

Also Starbucks CEO weighed in with this:

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-15/starbucks-schultz-urges-fellow-ceos-to-boycott-campaign-giving.html

 

Starbucks’ Schultz Urges Fellow CEOs to Halt Campaign Giving

Q

By Leslie Patton - Aug 15, 2011 5:02 PM ET

 

Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz urged other CEOs to boycott donating to U.S. political campaigns to encourage leaders to solve the nation’s growing budget deficit.

 

“I am asking that all of us forego political contributions until the Congress and the President return to Washington and deliver a fiscally disciplined long-term debt and deficit plan to the American people,” Schultz wrote in an e-mail sent to business leaders that was obtained by Bloomberg News.

 

Schultz, 58, joined Starbucks about three decades ago and later served as CEO until in 2000. He took the reins again in 2008 amid slumping sales growth after the company expanded too rapidly. The Starbucks leader has spoken on issues such as the high price of coffee, which he says is driven by market speculation.

 

Among the recipients of Schultz’s e-mail were NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan Niederauer and Bob Greifeld, CEO of Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., who in turn e-mailed letters to companies listed on their respective exchanges.

 

Schultz encouraged fellow business leaders in the e-mail to “voice your perspective publicly” and said that “businesses need to do all they can to accelerate job creation.”

 

Corey duBrowa, a spokesman for Seattle-based Starbucks, said the e-mail was sent last night and dated Aug. 15.

 

Schultz donated to Senator Maria Cantwell, a Washington state Democrat, in March, according to OpenSecrets.org.

 

Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee-shop operator with about 10,900 U.S. stores.

 

The New York Times earlier reported on Schultz’s e-mail.

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Oh please. Warren Buffet is full of sh*t. He's crying for Uncle Sam to tax him, then he should just give away and stop trying to drawn attention to himself. If it were me I'd keep every red cent since it would be my money that I earned. Even as an upper middle class person, I still think the gov't should screw off. Uncle Sam, stop digging in my pockets!! :mad: :tdown:

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Oh please. Warren Buffet is full of sh*t. He's crying for Uncle Sam to tax him, then he should just give away and stop trying to drawn attention to himself. If it were me I'd keep every red cent since it would my money that I earned. Even as an upper middle class person, I still think the gov't should screw off. Uncle Sam, stop digging in my pockets!! :mad: :tdown:

 

Ok Garbaldi. without taxes where does monies from miltary, police, schools, mass transit(unless Garbaldi you want the (MTA) fares to be $10 1-way)come from?

Again the US is among the lowest taxed in world and as long as the taxes are paid for and account for it the best system.

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Oh please. Warren Buffet is full of sh*t. He's crying for Uncle Sam to tax him, then he should just give away and stop trying to drawn attention to himself. If it were me I'd keep every red cent since it would my money that I earned. Even as an upper middle class person, I still think the gov't should screw off. Uncle Sam, stop digging in my pockets!! :mad: :tdown:

 

Considering you do not make more than 1 million dollars, and nothing Buffett suggested involves raising taxes on people making less than 1 million dollars, you do not have a legitimate complaint when you use the phrase "stop digging in my pockets"

 

You're just doing lip service for an indefensible position. Buffett even admitted, had you actually read the article instead of just commenting blindly, that he pays less in taxes as a percentage than staffers in his office who make less than him, including, by the way, people like you.

 

So basically what you are saying is that you think it's fair that Warren Buffett pays a lower percentage in taxes than you, even though he makes much more, and even though Buffett himself admits it's not fair?

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He also probably paid more in taxes then all of them combined. Its a matter of if you think "percentage of income taxed" is a meaningful statistic. I think its much more interesting to see how the rich pay the vast majority of taxes *already.*

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Yes! Lets tax the rich, because after all, the government has proven to be so competent when it comes to handling our money!

 

This is a very dismissive way to look at things. While the government may (or may not, it's irrelevant in the scope of this discussion) have issues properly allocating money, I don't know how you can disagree with the notion that our tax system places the tax burden on the wrong people.

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While I don't want want to punish the rich for earning money, I still want them to pay their fair share. Joe is right; the US government has been putting the burden on the wrong people for a long time. The rich have a lot of money, and I think that they have to start to help the US with that money.

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BTW, I support a flat tax where everyone pays the same rate.

 

Please enlighten us with what you consider a "fair rate". 10-15-20 percent? I'd also like to know what anyone out here proposes to do with these local taxes and fees. IMO those are the ones that really kick the average person the hardest. Take a close look at a local telephone/cell phone bill in the NE. Those little charges add up to big money in the long run and I don't see Uncle Sam's name associated with a lot of them. Tax reform is long overdue.

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Indeed. State and local taxes tend to be FAR higher than Federal.

 

It's not really the percentages of federal vs. state/locality but the locals have their greasy palms into everything, including where the feds hit us.. Property, sales, use, MTA, 911, E911, building, stock transfer, etc. The list goes on and on. Yet, to the unread, the Federal government (IRS) is the problem. Pardon my rant. Carry on.

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This is the way things should be:

 

Poor: You make just enough to get by (or not and all and may need to rely on some public assistance) but not enough to spoil yourself with the finer things in life

 

Middle Class: You make enough to get by, you have the potential to become a homeowner, and you also have some money on the side to spoil yourself and the family (if any) every now and then.

 

Rich: You make more than enough to get by and are able to afford many of life's luxuries. Taxes? What taxes?! Hah! Even if you got taxed at 90% of your income you'd still have money in the bank!

 

What's happening right now is most people who should be middle class are in that space between poor and middle class because of obvious reasons, employee wages are piss poor, and these people bear the ACTUAL brunt of taxes.

 

I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get.

 

^^ THIS.

 

The only to TRULY fix the economy is through consumer spending, not bullshit stimuli packages or government bailouts, what kinda shit is that?! If no one's spending, business is only going to slow down. If people aren't getting paid, they're not going to spend. They're going to try and cut corners wherever possible. IF this means shopping at Walmart or Target, then so be it. It does NOT take a rocket scientist to figure out what the hell is wrong with this country. Come on.

 

Warren Buffet is spot on with his argument!

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Please enlighten us with what you consider a "fair rate". 10-15-20 percent? I'd also like to know what anyone out here proposes to do with these local taxes and fees. IMO those are the ones that really kick the average person the hardest. Take a close look at a local telephone/cell phone bill in the NE. Those little charges add up to big money in the long run and I don't see Uncle Sam's name associated with a lot of them. Tax reform is long overdue.

 

A friend of mine put it bluntly that it is "expensive to be broke". It certainly is. If the people up top are finally stepping up to say something about this, there's gotta be something to it. Now let's see if our government has the balls to make actual change.

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Oh please. Warren Buffet is full of sh*t. He's crying for Uncle Sam to tax him, then he should just give away and stop trying to drawn attention to himself. If it were me I'd keep every red cent since it would be my money that I earned. Even as an upper middle class person, I still think the gov't should screw off. Uncle Sam, stop digging in my pockets!! :mad: :tdown:

 

No, you are full of shit! Buffet gives away billions! Always has! Learn a little Mr. Upper Middle Class!

 

You sound crazy saying that someone like him is trying to draw attention to himself!

 

A friend of mine put it bluntly that it is "expensive to be broke". It certainly is. If the people up top are finally stepping up to say something about this, there's gotta be something to it. Now let's see if our government has the balls to make actual change.

 

The thing is they aren't "finally" stepping up to say something. The uber rich have been saying this since 2008. I've posted many articles about it over the years. Even super rich Republicans have stepped up to the plate and said what is going on is absolutely insane!

 

Only greedy people who are full of themselves, and don't give a shit about the rest of society scream for taxes on the rich to remain where they are at a time like this. It also tells you a lot about how someone was raised! Smh....

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No, you are full of shit! Buffet gives away billions! Always has! Learn a little Mr. Upper Middle Class!

 

You sound crazy saying that someone like him is trying to draw attention to himself!

 

LOL! I am?? Tell me how...?? :confused:

 

Well then maybe he should give away some more then and stop complaining about not being taxed enough. The idea in and of itself is preposterous. I mean who complains about not giving away enough of their own money to a government that wastes and overspends? I know I certainly don't. If anything, I complain about paying too much taxes.

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The thing is they aren't "finally" stepping up to say something. The uber rich have been saying this since 2008. I've posted many articles about it over the years. Even super rich Republicans have stepped up to the plate and said what is going on is absolutely insane!

 

Only greedy people who are full of themselves, and don't give a shit about the rest of society scream for taxes on the rich to remain where they are at a time like this. It also tells you a lot about how someone was raised! Smh....

 

yeah good catch. And you have said that before. Sorry I missed that.

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LOL! I am?? Tell me how...?? :confused:

 

Well then maybe he should give away some more then and stop complaining about not being taxed enough. The idea in and of itself is preposterous. I mean who complains about not giving away enough of their own money to a government that wastes and overspends? I know I certainly don't. If anything, I complain about paying too much taxes.

 

Or maybe you should stop complaining about being overtaxed and your ass isn't even rich!

 

Now for part of my original quote:

 

"Only greedy people who are full of themselves, and don't give a shit about the rest of society scream for taxes on the rich to remain where they are at a time like this. It also tells you a lot about how someone was raised! Smh...."

 

yeah good catch. And you have said that before. Sorry I missed that.

 

I may be late, but I'm always on time!:P

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Or maybe you should stop complaining about being overtaxed and your ass isn't even rich!

 

Now for part of my original quote:

 

"Only greedy people who are full of themselves, and don't give a shit about the rest of society scream for taxes on the rich to remain where they are at a time like this. It also tells you a lot about how someone was raised! Smh...."

 

 

Oh, that is so not true!! I'll have you know that I donate to various organizations like the MoMA and have also donated here and there to cancer organizations seeing that my mother was stricken with the disease.

 

As for your other point, what does having to be rich have to do with being overtaxed?? Yeah, so I'm upper middle class and I still believe that I am overtaxed, especially as a single professional. If I had 10 kids running around then Uncle Sam would give me a break I suppose, but single working professionals are most certainly overtaxed. I guess they think that families are more important than single folks. :mad: Says a lot about our wonderful tax codes. :tdown:

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